


A New Home

by Aria6



Series: A Coyote's Stories [27]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-12 10:53:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3352970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aria6/pseuds/Aria6
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Author's Note: This has nothing to do with Starrk… not yet anyway.</p>
    </blockquote>





	A New Home

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: This has nothing to do with Starrk… not yet anyway.

_Burn, Vlame. Freeze Glaceren._

_Die shinigami!_

* * *

Ukitake Juushiro frowned as he looked at his pez dispenser.

"Damn." He was nearly out of soul candy. And while he wasn't in the Living World for a mission, it might be important to have one in case a hollow showed up. Dying because he was locked in a gigai… that would be a very ignoble way to go. And it had happened before. "Ah well." He would just make a quick stop at Urahara's shop before picking up a bit of Soul Candy.

Then he would meet Shunsui for tea and they would take the late train to Tokyo. Juushiro smiled to himself as he headed for the Urahara Shoten.

He honestly couldn't wait.

* * *

"Oh damn it!" Jinta looked at the scattered soul candies in despair. He'd just dropped a dispenser. "Not again!" He didn't want Tessai to see it. He could be scary when the shop was a mess and also, he didn't want the cost deducted from his pay. Quickly grabbing the dispenser he started gathering up the Soul Candies and popping them back in. Some of them, though, were utterly lost. Jinta looked at the dispenser helplessly. He needed at least one more for it to be high enough that a buyer wouldn't notice. "I know!" Rushing into Urahara's office, he began searching through the desk. He knew it was there. He'd seen the old pervert putting it away.

"Ahah!" Jinta triumphantly found the silvery white soul candy. It was a bit of an odd color but he was sure it was fine. Frowning, he tried to fit it in the top and found it was a touch too large. That was strange but he just shrugged and stuffed it in the bottom. It fit that way and when he tested it, it came out easily.

"Ukitake-san. We do have many soul candies…" Perfect! Jinta stepped into the sales floor, beaming.

"I have one right here!" He offered it to the startled man with white hair. Ururu looked a bit puzzled by his help. "Just got it out, it's good to go!"

"What excellent customer service! Thank you." Juushiro accepted the soul candies, to Jinta's relief. He wanted them out of the store pronto. "How much?" A tiny bit of haggling and the shinigami was on his way as Ururu put the money in the till. Jinta smiled to himself.

No one would ever find out how he'd messed up that Soul Candy.

* * *

When Juushiro took the first pill, nothing happened.

"…?" He looked at the pez dispenser in puzzlement as Shunsui looked at him. His best friend had already left his gigai. Not that they were doing anything urgent or important, but they wanted to check out something peculiar and it would be easier if they weren't seen by humans.

"Juu? What is it?" He asked and Juushiro frowned before pulling out another soul candy.

"Just a defective pill. It happens sometimes." He dismissed the problem before popping the second candy in his mouth. This one worked as advertised, booting him from his body so he could go do something not entirely legitimate. "Now, what was this place you wanted to show me?"

"Ah, right this way! It will knock your socks off…" Shunsui said cheerfully and they left their physical bodies behind. Juushiro felt a little odd, but he easily dismissed it.

It was probably nothing.

* * *

_Where am I?_

Black and gold eyes blinked slowly. Above was a nighttime sky, festooned with brilliant stars. The owner of those eyes sat up and gazed around alertly. He was sitting in a very interesting garden. It was Japanese in style, with stone paths and a gorgeous koi pond flanked by a small gazebo. He wrinkled his nose as he looked at the bonsai trees. They looked strange to him although he was no expert.

"Where am I?" He said, this time aloud as he pushed himself to his feet. Then his eyes widened as he realized something. "Who am I?!" He didn't know. He had no idea. Biting his lip, he glanced over himself for any clue.

His clothing was white. He was wearing close fitting, tailored trousers and an asymmetrical bolero jacket that left most of his chest bare. It was a rather fine chest but his skin was dead white, as well. Frowning, he went over to the water and looked in.

"…" What he was seeing was almost completely foreign to him. A heart shaped face with dead white skin and thick white hair, cut in a layered look around his face. It was very flattering, really. He was wearing a golden lip ring and two hoops in the upper part of his left ear. None of that was familiar.

The one thing that jogged his memory were his eyes. Black and gold, they were achingly familiar. His eyes widened as he remembered.

" _Papi?" Looking up into black and gold eyes, filled with warmth and love._

" _Yes pup?" He ran up and hugged the owner of that voice, surprising an oomph from him. Bone covered arms enfolded him, holding him close._

" _I love you papi." He said, his voice muffled and there was a soft chuckle in his ear._

" _I love you too, Shiro."_

"Shiro." He whispered. It was a simple baby name but he'd never changed it. He'd only added to it. "Shiro Vuurenijs." Fire and Ice. Yes. That was his name and his power but… "Oh fuck! Those shinigami BASTARDS!" The memories were coming back quickly now and his nostrils flared as he remembered being taken. The agonizing pain as his soul was shattered. He gripped the sword at his hip for a moment before forcing himself to relax. That had happened a long time ago and there was nothing to be done. "Where am I? This isn't King's inner world." Then more memories poured back and he groaned. "The bastard got rid of me!" He'd gotten Kisuke to extract is hollow from his soul, keeping it in something like a gikon.

None of that explained where he was, though. He began to explore the surroundings, very curious. It was beautiful and far more comfortable than the crappy surroundings that Ichigo had called an inner world. And in one corner of the garden he saw something that tugged on every parental instinct he owned.

"Aw." There were a pair of little boys sleeping together in some cushions. They both had pure white hair, down to around their shoulders, and they were wearing outfits that seemed very odd to the young hollow. "Ain't that cute." They were cuddled up with each other in a way that reminded Shiro of a pair of puppies. Smiling, he just watched them for a moment. It was so cute…

Then one of the boys opened his eyes. They were bright green and regarded him with innocent curiosity. The other woke up just a moment later, looking at him with an identical expression. They were identical in every way, in fact. Twins? They just stared at each other for a moment before one of the boys spoke.

"Who are you?" He asked and Shiro smiled as he knelt down beside the cushions.

"I'm Shiro Vuurenijs. Who're you?" He asked and the boys exchanged a glance before responding.

"Sogyo no Kotowari." They said together. Shiro blinked as he suddenly realized he was dealing with a zanpakuto spirit. A bit slow on the uptake, perhaps, but he hadn't anticipated that. Although… that meant…

"Hey, whose inner world is this?" He was dying to know the answer to that.

"Ukitake Juushiro." The two boys stood up then, holding fans. Shiro frowned as he felt a bit of menace come into the air. They looked like little kids but they were zanpakuto spirits, he knew they could probably do something nasty if they tried. "You're a hollow. What are you doing here?" He could feel them preparing to attack him and raised his hands in a pacific gesture.

"I'm more like a hollow soul fragment. It's a long story. Put those fans away and I'll tell you, hey?" He said before taking a cross-legged position on the ground. He really had no desire whatsoever to fight a pair of pups. They might not really be children but the thought still made him feel queasy. They exchanged a glance before putting the fans away and taking a seat on the cushions. "Okay. I guess I should start with what I used to be. A long time ago… well, actually, it probably wasn't that long. When were the Visored created?"

"A bit over a hundred years." One of the boys piped up and Shiro nodded.

"Okay. A bit over a hundred years ago, I was a natural born vasto lorde. That's why I don't have a hole." He had once been a whole soul and that attribute had stayed, even after his fragmenting. "I was fresh off the nest when a bunch of shinigami freaks found me. Just bad luck. They didn't purify me though, the bastards… no, they captured me and experimented with me." He was still incredibly angry about that. "Painful as fuck… well, we can skip that. Anyway, they finally broke my soul into pieces." He said and the zanpakuto spirit looked appropriately horrified. That was something shinigami were not supposed to do. "And used the pieces to seed those shinigami you call the Visored. The biggest, though, was fused with the essence of some dead shinigami and turned into a weird hollow thing called White. Kinda funny since that's my name… I can't really remember that part too good but somehow I got absorbed by a woman and born into that brat, Ichigo. That's why he's so strong. The shinigami parts fused fully with him, leaving just this fragment of me."

"But how did you get here?" One of them asked, impatient to get to the punch line. Shiro smiled at him.

"Hey, I'm getting there, don't rush me! Anyway. Ichigo got tired of me bitching at him and got that freak with the hat to pull me out. How I got into your owner from that part is beyond me. He must have bought something from the shop and got more than he bargained for." That was pretty amusing to him. "So… I guess I'm just going to hang out. This place is nice." And he had a feel for his own power. As part of Ichigo, he'd had access to far more energies than he did here. He'd been with Ichigo all his life and the shinigami powers had partly answered to him. In Ukitake Juushiro he was limited to his personal strength, at least until he integrated himself better. Any takeover attempt would be both pathetic and doomed at this point. The two zanpakuto spirits looked dubious and then Shiro had a moment of genius. "Who wants to play chase the boy?" Both their eyes widened.

"Oh yes! Chase!" Shiro laughed and soon they were enjoying a spirited game. He remembered his papi playing with him just like this, running over the sands of Hueco Mundo. Playing with the two zanpakuto spirits brought him back.

It was beautiful.

* * *

It was almost a month before the loss of the Gikon was noticed.

And then, it was only noticed because Ichigo had a change of heart and wanted it back. Without his hollow mask his power was appreciably diminished. When Urahara tried to find the candy, though, he found it was gone. That was very odd because his desk was warded so only he and his trusted employees could enter it. He'd stored the candy in the deepest part of his desk, too. No one could have found it by accident. Which meant…

"Who has been going through my desk?" Kisuke said to his staff. They were all assembled in front of him. "This is not a game. Who took the soul candy from my desk?" He quickly detected the signs of guilt, the way eyes darted to the side. "Jinta?"

"…I thought it was just a soul candy!" The child burst out. "I just used it to top off a dispenser! I'm sorry?" He said and Kisuke put a hand over his eyes for a moment.

"Who did you sell the candy to?" He asked and Jinta looked down. "Jinta!"

"Ukitake Juushiro." He said sullenly, which was actually a bit of a relief to Kisuke. Because…

"He can undoubtedly control the hollow." If it had been someone weaker he would have been very worried. "I'll send a message to Soul Society for him to come here as soon as he can." He would also have to apologize deeply for accidentally inflicting an inner hollow on the man, and probably give a discount at the shop. Kisuke sighed at the thought, but then brightened a little. At least he knew where the thing was. If Jinta hadn't known they would have had to check through all the records. Although… "Now, Tessai. What punishment should there be for this?" He would undoubtedly think of something good. Jinta looked like he wanted to sink through the floor and Urahara smiled.

This was going to be fun!

* * *

"I hate the rain." Shiro muttered as he gazed up into the cloudy sky. He held a hand out, palm up, catching a few droplets. It was spitting right now but he was sure a full on rain was about to come down.

"Why don't you come inside?" Sogyo no Kotowari asked and Shiro blinked as he turned his attention to the children.

"There's something inside?" He wondered, glancing at the house. The two boys laughed at him, grabbing his sleeves. Shiro let them pull him away, bemused. Ichigo's inner world had had buildings but the interiors had largely been empty. That was so depressing that he'd preferred staying in the rain, when there had been rain. After the place had flooded it had mattered less.

The building in this place, though, was quite a bit different. Shiro was astonished to see it was fully furnished and quite cozy. A beverage of some kind was pushed into his hands and he sipped it, blinking as he found it was tea. Taking a seat on the cushions he looked out the window to see a flash of lightning. The rain was starting to come down, just as he'd predicted.

"What's wrong with Juushiro?" He asked, watching as water began to bead on the window panes. "I've never seen the place like this before." And it had been over a month. In Ichigo's inner world there would have been at least a dozen storms, in that length of time. Compared to that, Juushiro was the picture of calmness and serenity. It seemed he had his moments, though. The two boys looked very sad.

"He wanted to go to his sister's dance show." One of them said sadly.

"One of his brothers will be playing in the orchestra!" The other boy said and Shiro blinked, trying to picture it. He knew what an orchestra was but he couldn't recall ever seeing one.

"It's a ballet, right?" The first boy asked the second, who nodded.

"It's from the Living World. I forget the name but it's really good and his sister is going to have a solo." He said and the first spoke again. Shiro had noticed they always did that, trading back and forth. But from what he could determine they were essentially the same entity, despite being two. It was an odd thing.

"But now he can't go. He's sick again." The boy said sadly and Shiro blinked. Sick? "It's his lungs. He's had it since he was a little boy."

"Oh." That was strange to him. But then, hollows only became sick if they were reiatsu drained and badly injured. Although… children had very little reiatsu. Shiro frowned at the thought. Maybe child hollows rarely got sick because they were so isolated from each other. If there was no one to carry disease, how could you catch it? That wouldn't be true of humans and shinigami. "You know, I'm a hollow. We hardly ever get sick." He said, chasing a thought. It was an interesting one because he knew that even before his shinigami powers had erupted, Ichigo had rarely gotten ill. Even when his sisters had the flu he'd often avoided catching it. "If you're willing to help me maybe I can see what I can do to help." He offered. The zanpakuto spirits regarded that with skepticism.

"Will you try to take him over?" One of them asked.

"We know that's what you want." The other said and Shiro grinned.

"You've figured me out already! Then, it's not like it's difficult, huh? Nah, I won't try to take him over." He said semi-seriously. "I'm still not in far enough. Besides, you know what I'd do if I got control, right?"

"Go to Hueco Mundo and take up your old life?" One of them said and Shiro nodded. That was his ultimate goal if he ever took control. "You wouldn't hurt anyone?"

"No. What would be the point of that? He'd just fight me harder. I'd go to Hueco Mundo and see about starting a family of my own." He allowed the wistful yearning to fill his voice. "All the things I should have had…" So much had been denied him. The two boys considered it for a moment before nodding.

"He might even like that. He's always wanted children." The second boy said sadly and Shiro blinked.

"Why doesn't he have any then?" Sure, shinigami weren't very fertile but he could sense that this guy was an old bastard. Kind of like his papi… well, probably younger than his papi. But still very old. Both the children sighed.

"It's his sickness. Every time he starts getting close to someone he has an attack." The first boy said and Shiro grimaced.

"Oh. I got it." And he did. Hollows didn't get sick much but if one had something chronic like this, he could imagine the response. No matter how strong a hollow might be, being occasionally incapacitated would be unacceptable. And if the illness could be passed on to the children… that hollow would be getting no action at all, if he even lived for long. "Alright. Help me out and let's go exploring." He would need their aide to reach out to Ukitake's body.

With Sogyo no Kotowari's help, Shiro found himself exploring the fascinating structure that was Ukitake Juushiro's body. He would have explored more, but the zanpakuto nudged him in the correct direction, focusing his attention on the lungs. Shiro explored them curiously. He could sense the strange life form, happily ensconced in its' warm and squishy home. Many life forms, really, uncounted numbers of them. His first thought was to kill them and he tried to use his hollow power for that. But they fought back and he stopped as he felt an alarming reaction from the host. The lung material was seizing up, filling with far too much fluid and things were rupturing… he didn't need Sogyo no Kotowari's cries to know that was not good. He immediately switched tactics and began soothing the overwrought tissues. Gradually, they eased, the bleeding stopping and the fluid going down. There was still far too much of it though.

_Okay, not trying that again._ He said and felt the zanpakuto's agreement. _Sorry… hmm…_ What else could he try, if killing them outright wouldn't work? He considered it for a long moment, watching how active the little things were. They were tearing up their own home as they perked around, trying to grow and expand. Oddly enough, they couldn't seem to multiply right. But they were still trying and that was causing the damage. Perhaps if he could stop them from doing that…? He carefully reached out, attempting to soothe the life forms directly.

That worked much, much better. Shiro was surprised to find that they almost wanted to be soothed. As if dormancy was a normal state for them? He worked at it very hard and soon they were almost completely inactive. He could feel Sogyo no Katawari's joy.

_Think that's done it. Pull me back?_ He couldn't manage this on his own, not yet. The two zanpakuto reeled him in and Shiro blinked as he felt his body again, felt the ground beneath his feet. "Well, that worked pretty good after the first part." That had been scary. He was sure there had been plenty of medics trying to save Juushiro's life. The two zanpakuto nodded.

"We didn't know trying to kill them would do that!" One of the boys said before the other spoke up with a smile.

"Putting them to sleep worked great! He might even be able to go to the ballet! It's in three days." He confided and Shiro smiled. "It's still raining though. He doesn't know how much better he is. Want to play cards?"

"Eh? Sure." It made sense that Juushiro didn't realize what had happened. He was used to his attacks coming and going in severity. He'd probably be quite surprised when he realized this one was essentially over. Shiro smiled as he picked up the cards he was dealt and looked them over. "What are we playing?" He knew several games.

"Hearts!" One of the boys chirped and Shiro smiled again. That was a game he knew. Soon they were deeply embroiled in the game and missed the clouds parting, the starry sky coming out. Unohana had just checked her patient and given him the surprising news of his condition.

It looked like Juushiro would be going to the ballet after all.

* * *

Juushiro smiled to himself as he went to the human world.

He'd never, in all his life, had an attack that was so violent yet so short. His life had almost been lost… and then the disease had lapsed directly into dormancy. That was strange beyond words but he wasn't going to question it. He'd gotten to see the ballet production his sister and brother were involved in. He'd gotten to congratulate them afterwards and see all the flowers his sister had gotten from her admirers. It made him glad she was married. If she wasn't, the troubles he would have…!

Chuckling to himself at the thought, he entered the candy shop. He was vaguely aware of Sogyo no Kotowari's feeling of wariness and tension but didn't let it trouble him. What could possibly go wrong?

"Ah, Ukitake! I've been hoping to see you." Urahara greeted him immediately and Juushiro smiled at him. Ichigo was there as well, looking at him with an odd suspiciousness. "I'm afraid you were accidentally sold a piece of defective goods."

"Eh?" He said, startled, then remembered. "Oh, the soul candy that didn't work? It was nothing, you shouldn't worry about it." Really, they were so cheap that a defective one was hardly worth remarking on. Kisuke shook his head.

"Sadly, I'm certain it worked all too well. You see, that wasn't a gikon. It was a holding cell for Ichigo's inner hollow." He said and Juushiro stared. He'd eaten… what? "He must be inside you at the moment. We need to remove him. If you could follow me?"

_NO!_ The dual yell made his eyes glaze over. _Tell him he can't have him!_ One of his zanapakuto said.

_We like him! He plays games with us and he made you better!_ That made Juushiro blink and his mouth drop open a little.

"Made me…? What?" He said and Ichigo started to say something but was hushed by Kisuke. He could tell Juushiro was having some kind of conversation with his zanpakuto.

_He tried to kill the things in your lungs but that just made you really, really sick. But then he made them sleep! He's wonderful!_ Sogyo no Kotowari said and Juushiro swallowed, blinking.

"But he's not mine…" He started feebly but then an entirely new voice spoke.

_I'm not that asshole's either!_ The voice surprised him. It was highly individual, not Ichigo's voice at all. He'd heard from the Visored that inner hollows' were usually identical to their owners. But this voice didn't sound like his, either. _My name is Shiro and I belong to myself! Can I talk to those dicks for a moment?_ Juushiro frowned at the thought. _Don't worry, I'm not enough a part of you to take control. Your zanpakuto could yank me back, just ask 'em._

_He's right, we can._ They both assured him and Juushiro still hesitated. Then he looked at the two men in front of him.

"My zanpakuto says the hollow has been healing my sickness." That made them exchange glances, surprised. Juushiro continued, a touch embarrassed. "And he wants to talk to you. It seems I can allow him safely. If you don't mind?" This was bizarre beyond words.

"Why would we care what that asshole has to say?" Ichigo growled and Juushiro winced as he felt a matching hostility from the presence inside him. How had he been so blind to it before? But it had been hiding itself and Sogyo no Kotowari might have been helping. With a strange, sideways feeling, he allowed the hollow to assume some control. He felt a tiny mask forming around his eye, a very strange feeling. It was even stranger when his mouth moved and his own voice spoke, but with a strange, echoing tone.

" _Fuck you Ichigo! And fuck you Kisuke! I like this guy. His inner world doesn't rain all the fucking time and his zanpakuto isn't a stuck up motherfucker who likes to stand on flagpoles! He's got a couple of kids in here and you know, I like kids! He's got a house that's not empty and there's even some goddamned tea! So fuck you, ya jackasses! I'm going to stay right here and with his zanpakuto helping me there's no way you can get me out! SO THERE! NYAH!"_ Juushiro was more than a little horrified as his body gave the two men in front of him a raspberry. Sogyo no Kotowari was giggling happily but he firmly ordered them to return his body to him. They pouted a little but helped him regain control. It was easy since the hollow wasn't fighting it. Ichigo stared at him in disbelief as Kisuke began to titter.

"Well, it appears we have been told! Can you tell me a bit about how the hollow helped you with your disease?" He asked as Ichigo's mouth worked, nothing coming out. "Perhaps I could examine you?"

"That… might be wise…" He said weakly, considering his situation. He was a Visored now? That was incredibly peculiar. Fortunately, being a hybrid was no longer a death sentence but still… he'd never anticipated such a thing happening to him.

He would have to see where this led.


End file.
